Always and Forever
by Titania Eli
Summary: Kol was captured by vampire hunters. Of course, it's his siblings who rescued him. It's not as fun as it sounded.


_So this has been on my mind and bugging me non stop. Whump!Kol and family loving. A little awkward at the end, forgive me, but I'm just not good in writing fluff._

* * *

**Always and Forever**

Fuck his life, Kol thought furiously. _How did this happen again? _

Oh, right. Because he had let his guard down and underestimated the hunters. There were times he really wanted to hit himself in the face.

He had a few confrontations with vampire hunters in the past, but a hundred years spent sleeping in the damn coffin Klaus had shut him in, and the humans had seemingly became stronger. Their weapons were more advanced than ever with the evolved technology of the twenty-first century.

He shook his head weakly, trying to blink the blood out of his eyes so he could get a glimpse of his surroundings. He was in a tiny room, and when he meant _tiny_, it really was what he meant. The room was so small that only two people at most could fit in. The plaster on the wall was already peeling off with age, and the room smelled like stale blood. His hands were bound together with thick, scratchy ropes and tied to a protruding rusted water pipe that ran across the entire length of the room.

In a different circumstance, he could have easily snapped the ropes, kicked down the metal door and escaped. The hunters had taken extra precautions however. They drained his blood, drugged him full of vervain and pinned his legs down with wooden stakes. They had tried killing him at first, but when they found out that he didn't die even after he took a stake to the heart, they kept him in this dingy and dirty little room. From what conversations he managed to catch from his position, they seemed to be transferring him to some place and were currently waiting for more instructions.

He swore under his breath, sagging against the wall. He tried moving his hands, attempting to squeeze them out of the ropes again. His fingers felt numb from the lack of blood. In fact, his whole body felt numb. His body was colder than usual and the vervain he was pumped full of didn't help matters at all.

To speak the truth, this was the shittiest situation he has ever gotten himself into. Most of the time, whenever he has gotten himself into dire situations, he has somehow always managed to escape by pure skills or sheer luck. His strength was gone, he was effectively trapped with no route of escape, there were at least ten hunters nearby in whatever godforsaken place he's in, and there was no one who knew where he was so the chances of anyone saving him was next to nothing.

"Fuck my life." He whispered to himself, and kind of regretted pissing off every member of his family the last time they were together. He really didn't want his last words to his only sister to be 'whore', because if anyone could pulled off a stunt like managing to kill off an Original without a White Oak stake, it's those damned hunters. He faced them enough to know how dangerous they could be, for humans.

He was so absorbed in his wallowing and self-pity that he almost didn't hear the loud crashing outside his tiny, little room. He straightened, and regretted his sudden action the next second as his body _screamed _in pain. He jerked against the wave of agony and whimpered, trying – and failing to curl up into a ball. The stakes impaled in his legs might be one of the reasons.

The door suddenly opened with great force, crashing against the rotting wall and nearly smashing one of his feet. Pieces of plaster fell onto the ground. It was only by some miracle the door wasn't torn off its rusted hinges and fell on him.

"Kol!" he blearily looked up at the sound of his name. His vision was suddenly engulfed by a bright, pleasing colour he vaguely recognized as wheat yellow, accompanied by a pair of worried blue eyes. He struggled to remember the woman's name as her small, delicate fingers flitted restlessly over his body, mentally categorizing his injuries.

"Rebekah." He breathed hoarsely, finally remembering her name. His sister's eyes darted towards his face when she heard his whisper. She stilled, eyes widening.

"Kol, you'll be alright. I'm here, Elijah's here, and – and Nik is here too." She whispered anxiously, voice cracking slightly. "You're alright now. We're going to take you home right now."

His lids fell slightly, head drooping. She quickly set to releasing him from the ropes. Her anger burned deep in her chest as she rubbed her hands soothingly over his bruised, bleeding wrists. He barely made a sound as she plucked the wooden stakes out of his legs.

"Bekah?" She turned as she heard Elijah's horrified voice. The shouting and fighting had vanished. The house had gone silent. Her two elder brothers were very effective and fast killers when they actually worked together.

"W-We need to get him out of here." She choked. Klaus's blond head appeared behind Elijah. The hybrid pushed Elijah to the side, face tensed with worry. His anger came back with ferocity as he saw his younger brother's broken body slumped against Rebekah. The smell of vervain was nauseating in the tiny room.

"If I had known what those hunters had done, I'd not have given them such merciful, swift deaths." he snarled. Elijah placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Nik, enough." Rebekah whispered. "Let's just get out of this place."

Klaus reined in his temper, pursed his lips and nodded sharply. He strode forward and scooped Kol up with a surprising tenderness that wasn't often shown. Careful not to agitate Kol's wounds, he left the room with his brother safe in his arms.

* * *

Kol woke up with a splitting headache and feeling like he had just gone ten rounds with his father in a sword fight, then another few extra rounds with hybrid Klaus. His entire body ached, and he felt as weak as a newborn baby. But he was healing, and he tasted fresh blood on his tongue. Someone had fed him very recently.

"Stay down." He winced as he felt a pair of hands pushing him back down onto his bed. For a second, he panicked and he was back in that dirty, smelly room, hands forcing him down and screaming himself hoarse as vervain burned through his veins.

"Kol, Kol, _Kol_!" He was jerked back to awareness by frantic shaking. Elijah's eyes were wide and shocked as he calmed down, gasping for air. The door flung open and Klaus rushed in, followed by Rebekah, whose face was pale white in fear. When she first heard Kol's screaming and Elijah's frantic yelling, her heart had felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

"What's going on?" Klaus demanded, brows furrowing as he noticed his brothers' positions. Elijah was half straddling Kol, hands on the latter's shoulders.

"It's nothing." Elijah said, his calm voice a contrast with the slightly wild look in his eyes. "Kol just panicked, that's all."

He relaxed slightly when he felt Kol's muscles loosening under his grip. He dropped down beside Kol, exhaling in relief. Rebekah sat down on the opposite of Kol, expression tight with concern. Almost cautiously, Klaus joined them, sitting close to the foot of the bed.

"Help me up." Kol murmured quietly, wincing slightly as he tried to get up on his own. Elijah gave him a reprimanding glare, stopping him in his attempts. He slid his arm under the younger's waist and gently helped him sit up.

"How do you feel?" Rebekah asked, peering at Kol anxiously.

"Fine." Kol grimaced, ignoring the look on her face.

Rebekah's lips curled in annoyance. "Don't lie. You look like crap. I bet you feel like one too."

"Then why do you even bother to ask?" he snapped in irritation, narrowing his eyes at her.

She gave him a thin, brittle smile and answered lightly, "To see if you're going to lie to me."

Everyone knew it's useless to lie to her, but her infuriating brothers _always _seemed to forget that and tried to test her.

"What happened, Kol?" Elijah cut in before Kol could return a snippy retort.

Kol's face darkened, his jaw tightening. "Ran into a couple of vampire hunters in Colorado Springs. I managed to kill a few, but was eventually outnumbered. How did you find me?"

Elijah and Rebekah looked at Klaus then. The hybrid scowled at the both of them.

"I realized something wrong when your cell phone signal disappeared. I tried tracing you, but I couldn't find you at all." He muttered. "So I sent a couple of my hybrids out. They couldn't find you either, so I requested help from the Bennett witch in locating you."

"You were keeping track of me?" Kol frowned. He was a little irritated that his half-brother was keeping track of his whereabouts, but felt even more irritated at the lack of surprise he felt.

"If I didn't, you'd be shipped halfway across the world by now." Klaus said defensively, avoiding his stare. He has no idea what those hunters were trying to do with Kol, but he had made sure that every single one of those fuckers were dead for daring to touch his brother.

Rebekah rolled her eyes at Klaus's stubbornness. _Men_, she thought in exasperation. Was it so hard to say that he simply _cared_?

"You're avoiding my question." Kol pointed out, smirking despite his exhaustion. Klaus growled at him. To his chagrin, Kol's grin widened.

"Okay, enough." Elijah interjected, rolling his eyes. "Get some rest, Kol. You look like you're going to collapse any second, and don't try to lie to me. I might not have Bekah's ability, but I can still tell when you're lying to me."

Kol made to protest, but was cut off by a tired yawn. Rebekah helped him settled into a more comfortable position, retrieving extra blankets from the wardrobe. She took a minute to observe her brother's condition. It has been a long time since she has seen Kol looking this vulnerable. Seeing him bloodied and beaten, slumped in the corner of that disgusting room, hands tied above his head like a broken marionette had frankly frightened her beyond belief. She was ashamed to admit that she had been stunned and froze upon seeing the pitiful sight. At that moment, she had wanted to turn back and fled from all the blood staining the floor. _Her_ brother's blood. The very same blood that ran in her veins. It's too bad Klaus and Elijah had gotten their hands on those hunters first. _They should be thankful I hadn't got to them first_, she thought viciously. She would have given them a very slow, extremely painful and _agonizing _death. No one touched her family.

"Rest well and heal." Elijah said quietly, standing up. Klaus, standing at the doorway, dimmed the lights.

"Wait," the three of them froze at Kol's voice. It sounded painfully young. Elijah, the closest to him, jumped slightly when he suddenly reached out and grabbed him.

"Kol?" Elijah frowned. The look in the younger vampire's eyes rendered him silent. Kol pulled at his sleeve. He inwardly cursed as he felt himself gasping for breath already. It was taking his entire energy just to reach out and stopped Elijah.

"Stay." His voice was soft and desperate. "I don't want to be alone."

Alone meant his wrists chafing as he writhed against the ropes. Alone meant his blood being drained out of him and thinking _this must be what it felt like to be dying. _Alone meant screaming and _begging _as vervain was forced into his body. He didn't want to be alone.

"Stay please." He pleaded. Rebekah's face crumpled, tears glistening at the corner of her eyes. He was grateful she didn't let them fall. She slid under the blankets, tossing her shoes to the side. Her hand found his under the layers of fabric, fingers tangling together. Elijah dragged the antique armchair over. He stole a blanket from them, throwing it over his body as he settled into the chair. He brought his legs up, nudging against Kol's feet. The only one left was Klaus, who lingered by the doorway, looking uncharacteristically unsure.

"What are you doing?" Rebekah asked impatiently, voice muffled.

Kol looked at him, and with a soft, weary voice, said, "Stay, Nik."

Klaus's resolve broke and he walked over, slipping on the other side of Kol. Rebekah threw her arm over Kol's waist, reaching out to touch the hybrid's shoulder.

"Go to sleep, Kol." She mumbled. Kol smiled slightly and finally let himself sleep.


End file.
